Just Hold Me Now, And Let It Be
by thephantomofthetardis
Summary: Eponine gets into a bit of trouble with Montparnasse and Courfeyrac tries to help. Eponine refuses each time he offers a hand but will she eventually realize that maybe she needed him all along? Rated M for abuse and language. If this is triggering do not read.


"Taire?" Eponine shouted through her shared apartment, throwing her bag down behind the couch, "Grantaire?"

She was getting a bit worried, as Grantaire was supposed to be watching Gavroche right about now.

"GRANTA-" Eponine stopped short when she saw a note taped to the fridge.

"Ep,

So, Enj just rang and asked me to dinner with him since he has the night off. You of all people know how much he works so I couldn't pass this up! Don't worry, Gavroche is with Courf and they should be home around 6. See you tonight when I get back (or tomorrow if all goes well *wink wink*).

Love always,

Grantaire xx"

Eponine tossed the note onto the counter and checked her phone for the time. 5:10; just enough time to make some dinner for herself and the boys when they got back.

::

"Eponine!" Gavroche exclaimed, bounding thought the door. Behind him was Courfeyrac who was smiling ear to ear at the young boy.

"Gavroche! Did you have fun with the boys today?" Eponine asked, crouching down so she was level with her 12 year old brother.

He went on to tell her about his wonderful day with both Grantaire and Courfeyrac. She beamed at him and wondered how he always had so much energy. She was glad though. With every thing the pair have been through, she's glad to see him smile.

When Eponine was only 18, her parents kicked her and Gavroche out of the house and made Eponine Gavroche's legal guardian since she was now old enough to take care of him. Not that she didn't do that already. She practically raised the boy since her parents were too lazy to do it themselves.

She once again looked at Gavroche, who was still smiling and telling her about his amazing day.

"Well," she started, when he was finished speaking, "I'm glad to hear you enjoyed yourself today. Now, who's hungry?"

At this both Gavroche and Courfeyrac raised their hands like school children, making Eponine giggle. She handed Gavroche his food and he practically ran to the living room to watch cartoons while he ate.

"So," Courfeyrac started, "How have you been?" he asked Eponine, concern clear in his tone.

"I'm doing quite well actually."

"And how's your 'boyfriend?'" he asked sarcastically.

"For the millionth time, Monparnasse is not my boyfriend. We go to dinner on occasion, we make out a little and that's it." She told him firmly.

"I just...I worry about you, Ep. I don't want anybody hurting you."

"I know you do, and that's so sweet of you but I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." She said tapping his cheek lightly. They each grabbed some food and headed to the living room with Gavroche.

::

"Thanks for watching him today." Eponine told Courfeyrac after he'd carried a sleeping Gavroche to his bed. "I don't know what I would do without you sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Courfeyrac replied with a smirk.

"Okay, all the time." she returned laughing.

"Don't mention it. I'm always glad to help. That goes for you too." He told her walking towards the door.

"I've already told you, don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." She told him smiling as they stood in the doorway.

"Whatever you say." he told her putting his hands up in defeat.

"Goodnight, Courfeyrac." She smiled at him.

"Goodnight, mademoiselle." He replied kissing her hand and turning around to leave. Eponine smiled and shut the door behind him.

::

As Eponine was finishing her hair and make-up, she heard a knock at the door. Cosette was dragging her to the club tonight for a "fun night out." Of course Eponine was looking forward to drinking and dancing with random guys but she had a feeling Cosette would drag Marius along and leave halfway through the night with lover boy.

Eponine opened the door to see Courfeyrac standing there, his ever-present smirk plastered across his face.

"Well, don't you look lovely." Courfeyrac complimented, causing Eponine to blush.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." She giggled closing the door behind him. "Gavroche is in his room watching a movie and he already had dinner so just make sure he goes to sleep by 10."

"Don't worry, Ponine, I know the drill. Have fun tonight." He told her as she put on her shoes. "But not too much fun, okay?"

"Oh, I'm sure it will be an absolute bore without you, Courf." She smiled at him as she walked out the door.

::

As Eponine guessed, Cosette brought along her "oh-so-perfect boyfriend" when this was supposed to be a girls night out. Eponine didn't care though. She just headed over to the bar and ordered her favourite drink before going out to the dance floor.

She found Cosette in the crowd and decided to dance with her for a while since Marius wanted to go get a drink. When he came back, Eponine found a guy for herself to dance with and when he left, she started to grind on another guy. She wasn't trying to hook up with anyone, just wanted to dance and have a fun night. What was the harm in that?

::

A few hours later, she was tired as all hell. Her feet were killing her and she needed some sleep. Cosette and Marius had left about an hour ago (just as she suspected) so she decided to just walk home instead of getting a cab. Anyway, her flat was only a block or two away.

She loved to walk alone. Some may think roaming the city by oneself at night was scary, but Eponine loved to be alone with her thoughts.

That night however, she was not alone. Not for long at least.

About 10 short minutes into her walk, Eponine stumbled upon Montparnasse. Drunk and angry, as always, he stopped her in the middle of the pavement and grabbed her arm tightly. Eponine winced slightly at his touch.

"So," he slurred, "you think you can go around fucking other guys behind my back?"

"What are you talking about?" Eponine asked struggling to break free of her captor's strong grip.

"I'm talking about you cheating on me with those guys in the club!" he spat in her face, his grip getting tighter with each word.

"How can I cheat on you if we're not even together?" She screamed back at him, finally ripping her arm from his grasp.

"Is this your way of breaking up with me?" He asked, his tone still angry but a bit of hurt was clear.

"When were we together? We went on exactly two dates, and that was the end of that. I never wanted a relationship out of this." She tried to explain to him as gently as possible but, being that he was drunk, his emotions were all over the place.

He quickly became angrier and moved towards her, slapping her hard across her cheek. She gasped as he grabbed her shoulders and threw her small body to the ground. He kicked her swiftly near her ribs and spat at her before drunkenly sauntering away.

Eponine curled up on the ground, whimpering and clutching her ribcage. She struggled to get up, only to collapse again. She sat there a while until she regained a bit of strength and felt she could stumble the rest of the way home.

::

Courfeyrac struggled to stay awake as he sat on the couch watching TV. He couldn't let himself fall asleep, though, he was too worried about Eponine. He knew that she would be out late but it was nearing 1:30. Just as he thought he should go out and try to find her, he heard a knock on the door.

He opened the door as fast as he could and took Eponine in his arms.

"Eponine! Thank God! I was so worried about you." He said, his sentences rushed.

Eponine winced at the contact, a bruise obviously forming already.

"Eponine? What's the matter?"

"Nothing." She reassured him, trying to brush the matter off. "Thanks again for watching Gavroche."

"Okay, there's no way in hell you're getting rid of me that easily. Now, tell me what happened." Courfeyrac pressed, concerned.

"It's nothing, honest." Eponine said trying her damnedest to sound convincing. "I just…ran into Montparnasse is all."

"Eponine, what did he do to you?" Courfeyrac said, sounding angry rather than concerned now. He was so angry with Montparnasse and he didn't even know what he had done yet.

"He saw me dancing with a few guys and got…angry, jealous...I don't know Courf, but I'm fine. For the last time, I can take care of myself." She told him, walking into the kitchen to get some ice for her ribs.

She winced as the cold, plastic bag of ice hit her injured ribs. Courfeyrac, who followed the battered girl, saw how much pain she was in and once again offered his help. But this time, he wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Here," he said quietly, grabbing the ice from Eponine, "lay down and I'll get you whatever you need, okay."

Eponine only nodded, fearing that if she spoke she would start to cry. She followed his lead to the couch and lied down so that Courfeyrac could see her wounds more clearly.

He lifted her shirt up slightly, trying not to hurt her. He inwardly cringed when he saw a mass of purples and blues on and around her ribcage. "Ep…" he whispered.

Eponine closed her eyes, once again holding back tears. This time not because of her own pain, but the sadness she saw in Courfeyrac's eyes. She reached her hand out and placed it on his cheek affectionately. He placed his hand over hers, sniffling a bit.

"I'm sorry." She told him, failing to hold in her tears this time.

He looked at her smiling sadly, wiping a tear off her rosy cheeks. "Don't be sorry. It isn't your fault."

"I knew I shouldn't have gone out tonight. If I hadn't, you could be at home sleeping or something right now."

"You're worried about me?" Courfeyrac asked, cocking his head to the side. "You're covered in bruises and can't walk two seconds without wincing and you're worried that I should be asleep right now."

"Sorry." Eponine said, slightly giggling.

"Stop apologizing." He smiled at her, placing the ice back onto her ribs.

"Courfeyrac?" Eponine asked.

"If you're going to say sorry again…" he replied jokingly.

"No." She smiled at him, "I just wanted to thank you. I guess I really do need your help after all."

**Okie dokie! So, this is the one shot I was telling you about. Hopefully I can get finished with the first bit of the chaptered one. Or maybe it will be a one shot as well. Who knows? I don't, that's for damn sure haha. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed that! Thank you for reading! xx**


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